Norms and Social Influence Flashcards
1
Q
Descriptive social norms
A
- a person’s belief about what other people do
- e.g. In ads, selling product by advertising how many people use it/how popular it is
- here is what the majority of people are doing, that’s what you want to be doing too
2
Q
Injunctive social norms
A
- a person’s belief about what other people approve or drisapprove of doing
- telling you what people think you ought to be doing or not be doing
- e.g. speed limit signs
3
Q
power of decriptive norms in voting study
A
- both conditions were saying to go vote, but the second version is more powerful (do it because others are doing it)
4
Q
descriptive norms reflect on what?
A
times when we don’t conform to what others are doing—intentionally or unintentionally
5
Q
Descriptive and injunctive norms research example: recycling
A
- effect of simply conveying descriptive norm info was twice as big—much stronger effect (intention to recycle)
- BUT, people thought other stuff made the ads persuasive, didn’t think providing info about descriptive norms was persuasive
6
Q
why and when people conform to descriptive norms
A
- need to belong
- need to know
7
Q
Descriptive norms: need to belong
A
- motivation to act in ways that will be approved of by others in the local environment
- motivates us to act in ways that we think will make others like us (acting like them)
8
Q
Descriptive norms: need to know
A
- motivation to act in ways that are objectively smart or sensible in the context of the local environment
- when we are unclear of the situation, want to know whether the things we do are sensible in the situation
- look around to see what others are doing
9
Q
Descriptive norms: Conformity with the majority
A
- when people feel a stronger need to belong —> more likely to conform (e.g. conditions in which people worry more about others’ approval)
- when people feel a stronger need to know —> more likely to conform (e.g. conditions in which people experience more uncertainty)
10
Q
Threats & Conformity
A
- when people are worried about threats, they are more likely to conform
- tied into “need to know”
- threats = sense of uncertainty
11
Q
Infectious disease study
A
- experimental manipulations: (neutral control, other threats salient (own safety), disease threats salient (infection))
- measured conformity of majority opinion (how others are endorsing stuff or not)
- disease tends to be a collective phenomenon, whereas other kinds of threats are between you and the threat
- conformity to norms might be necessary to avoid spread of disease
12
Q
Culture & Conformity
A
- there are stronger conformity pressures and higher levels of conformity in collectivistiv cultures
13
Q
Culture’s constraints article
A
- define cultures according to how strong the norms are within them, how compelled people feel to cnform, and what people feel when they don’t
- tight and loose cultures
14
Q
tight cultures
A
- stronger norms and low tolerance for deviant behaviours
- exist in places where there have historically been more threats (infectious diseases)
15
Q
loose cultures
A
- weak norms and high tolerane for deviant behaviours
- compared with tighter countries, looser countries had 5x COVID cases and almost 9x deaths
